Articles of jewelry are generally constructed by linking together multiple precious or semiprecious gems. However, in many instances closely joining such objects risks contact and thus rubbing or marring of the gem. Accordingly different approaches have been developed including gluing or clasping gems in a particular location; however, this can prevent rotation of the gem, which in some instances is desired.
Another approach is to provide a plurality of knots between each of a plurality of gems. For instance, a typical strand of pearls includes knots which prevent neighboring pearls from rubbing against one another and adversely affecting the appearance of the gems. However, this approach is time consuming and limits the position of each object along the strand. In addition, the diameter of throughbores and knot diameters must also be considered and tightly controlled, which requires a high degree of precision. Still another consideration is that the approach does not prevent rubbing during storage. As such, storage requires specialized holders to prevent rubbing between gems, which adds to costs and can be inconvenient.
The use of magnets to join jewelry components is well known. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,871 issued to Hoffman provides jewelry with replaceable ornamentation. Hoffman permits the substitution of multiple decorative elements to a base using a pair of magnets; the first being press fit into a recess of the base and the second adhesively attached to the decorative element. Thus, magnetic attraction holds the chosen decorative element to the base.
Another approach is considered in US 2007/0084241 to Kretchmer et al., which provides magnetic repulsion components for jewelry articles. Specifically, traditional magnets are arranged to direct repulsive forces between neighboring components. That is, the configuration of each neighboring magnet is reversed such that north poles face one another and south poles face one another between neighboring components. However, this configuration requires the components be positioned along a rigid rod. Without the rigid rod, neighboring magnetic elements would tend to flip over to orient north and south poles together. Further, while nearest neighbor components are oriented such that poles having the same polarity face one another, this configuration inherently requires each next nearest neighbor to be oriented in the same direction, which if the rod where pliable would result in attraction between every other neighbor. Still further, the rigid rod prevents the article from bunching or knotting when being stored since north and south poles would naturally attract components throughout the article leading to scratching and marring of the components.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an article of jewelry that eliminates the need for clasping decorative elements to a strand and knotting strands between decorative elements. It would also be desirable to provide an article that uses repulsive forces to prevent contact between objects yet is practical when using a pliable strand in lieu of a rigid rod.